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Bronx Voters Elect Díaz as New Borough President

Assemblyman Rubén Díaz Jr. easily captured a special election for Bronx borough president on Tuesday, and will succeed Adolfo Carrión Jr., who is now director of the White House Office of Urban Affairs.

Mr. Díaz, 35, a Democrat, defeated his lone opponent in the race, Anthony J. Ribustello, a Republican district leader best known as the actor who played Tony Soprano’s driver on “The Sopranos.”

“You don’t run to lose, so of course I’m disappointed,” Mr. Ribustello said in a phone interview. “But I’ll be back to fight another day.”

With all the precincts in, Mr. Díaz had 28,301 votes, or 87 percent, to Mr. Ribustello’s 4,081 votes, according to the City Board of Elections.

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Rubén Díaz Jr., a Democrat, succeeds Adolfo Carrión Jr.Credit
Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times

Mr. Díaz’s election was seen as a foregone conclusion by many. He managed to do what would have seemed virtually impossible a year ago, cobbling together the support of the borough’s tattered Democratic factions that had been torn apart by a power struggle last fall. The groups united behind Mr. Díaz’s candidacy. Mr. Díaz also outspent Mr. Ribustello’s $4,000 campaign a few times over.

“I’m excited. I’m humbled,” Mr. Diaz said in a telephone interview after his victory, the blare of music and cheers in the background. He characterized the winning margin as “a mandate to push one strong Bronx agenda.”

“This is the culmination of over two years of working with elected officials and community leaders,” he said. “I hear Bronxites loud and clear. and I’m ready to work for them.”

Mr. Díaz began laying the blueprint for his borough presidency well before Tuesday’s election, making known his intention to appoint Assemblywoman Aurelia Greene, the dean of the Bronx Democratic delegation, as his deputy.

Mr. Díaz was elected to the Assembly at 23, and is the son of State Senator Rubén Díaz Sr., a conservative Democrat and Pentecostal preacher who has often been at odds with his more liberal counterparts in the party.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A24 of the New York edition with the headline: Bronx Voters Elect Díaz As New Borough President. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe